Summer 2005 QDA Faculty Seminar Session Two

Data Management Strategies

Goals for this session

1.  Get to know the new people who show up today

2.  Discuss and answer questions about progress on projects.

3.  Discuss strategies for managing data in NVivo.

4.  Be prepared to begin coding using NVivo.

Readings: QSR materials help files

Homework for next time: Format and import Data into NVivo (if not already done), set up a node structure and begin coding data.

Major Ideas From Last Time

1.  QDA software does not do the analysis but is a tool for organizing, indexing, and searching data.

2.  It is important to match your research methods to the software rather than let the software dictate your methods.

3.  Both inductive and deductive methods are possible.  One can let data ‘speak’ for themselves or look for specific themes informed by theory.

4.  General capabilities of NVivo were reviewed.

5.  Qualitative research has different levels of acceptance in different disciplines.

Questions for Discussion

Introductions for those who were not here last time (See Session 1 sheet)

Setting up a Project

What progress have you made in setting up your project?

What questions do you have about creating and importing documents?

What questions do you have about assigning attributes to documents?

What questions do you have about arranging documents into sets?

Keeping Track of Data

What tools are there in NVivo for keeping track of data?

What are sets useful for? 

How can nodes be used to organize data? How can case nodes be used to organize data into cases?  When is it useful to use case nodes? What is the difference between a case node and a case type node?

What is the difference between organizing documents into sets and using case nodes?

How can you link related documents?  Related documents and nodes?

What is the difference between attributes and nodes? When do you use attributes rather than nodes?

How can the show and assay tools be used to keep track of data?

Other questions?

Other Ideas (pg. numbers refer to the Miles and Huberman text)

Defining cases/units of analysis. (pg. 25-26)

Create strategies for formatting, cross-referencing, indexing, abstracting, and paginating data documents. (pg. 45)

Create document summary forms or contact summary sheets.  A form that explains the significance of a document and gives a brief summary.  May be coded in later analysis.  Link it to the document in NVivo. (pp. 51-54).

Create a data accounting sheet to keep track of what data has been collected and needs to be collected (pp. 80-81)